Dechert is the law firm that helps business leaders lead.

From the railroads of the 19th century to the world’s top asset managers of today, we advise the innovators who move industries forward. Our nearly 1,000 lawyers, in commercial centers worldwide, are immersed in the key sectors we serve. We consult on first-to-market financial products. Structure precedent-setting deals in private capital and real estate. Propel ventures that drive progress in life sciences and technology. Because all litigation is high stakes and every matter is business-critical, we work shoulder to shoulder with clients, invested and unwavering. For more than 150 years, Dechert has been where leaders need us – at the forefront of the law. Ahead of market shifts and regulatory tides. And wherever business moves next, we’ll be there – partnering with leaders to transcend the expected and achieve the uncommon.

Our lawyers advise asset managers, financial institutions and corporations on issues critical to managing their business and their capital – from high-stakes litigation to complex transactions and regulatory matters. We assist with raising and deploying pools of capital – from fund formation through the entire investment lifecycle to realisation or restructuring, and we offer market-leading expertise in areas such as antitrust, finance and real estate, white collar crime, tax, IP, partnership and employment.

We run three vacation schemes each year: winter, spring and summer. 

We recruit all of our future trainees from our vacation schemes, in winter, spring and summer. Our two-week schemes are designed to provide hands-on experience of what it’s like to be a trainee solicitor at Dechert. Each week you will sit in a different practice group and work alongside our lawyers on live matters. Exactly what you do depends on the practice group you sit in, but will include research, drafting and attending meetings. You will also take part in tailored training sessions designed to develop your legal and business acumen. Before you start the scheme, we will ask for your practice area preferences and try to place you in your chosen groups. You will be allocated a supervisor (an associate or partner) and a trainee buddy, and will receive work from people at all levels from across the group. Social events, such as evening activities and dinners, are an important part of the vacation scheme as they enable you to network and build relationships with the wider Dechert team.

We offer places on both schemes to penultimate-year law undergraduates, all final-year undergraduates (both law and non-law), all graduates, postgraduates and career changers.

We take your training seriously, both before and after you qualify. We have a full, and lively, training programme which covers the whole range of skills you need, from technical legal issues and substantive skills training in each practice area to the Critical Skills Institute, which is focused on leadership, management, communication and client relations. Our trainees undertake six seats of four months each, with international secondment opportunities, providing a truly broad legal foundation. Working closely with partners and associates, and with a small trainee intake, no two trainees’ training contracts will be the same. We are looking for candidates who have a genuine interest in business and our clients, are ambitious and who have a keen sense of building community, both within the workplace and with our clients.

The introduction of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) offers a unique opportunity to craft a training contract experience specific to Dechert trainees.

The starting point for your SQE training will be through preparation for the SQE1 and 2 assessments, providing you with all the knowledge and skills you need to excel at the assessments. We will be using the scope that the new route to qualification provides to tailor the training experience to ensure our trainees are able to hit the ground running when they join the firm. Training will focus on our specific practice groups such as litigation and financial services regulation along with modules looking at innovation and legal technology and the law firm as a business.

Non-law students will undertake the Postgraduate Diploma in Law (PGDL) before starting their SQE preparation, ensuring that you have all the foundational legal knowledge you need to succeed at the next stage of your legal training.

PGDL and SQE fees, plus £17,500 maintenance grant for each year of law school.

• Financial services group
• Corporate & securities
• Securities & complex litigation
• Enforcement & investigations
• Antitrust
• Employment
• Tax
• Intellectual property
• Finance & Real estate

• Corporate & Commercial

• London

• London

• A4ID
• Citizens Advice Bureau
• Innocence Project London
• Islington Law Centre
• Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)
• LawWorks (the Solicitors Pro Bono Group)
• Legal Advice Centres
• Prince’s Trust
• South West London Law Centres
• TrustLaw Connect

• #10000BlackInterns
• Aspiring Solicitors
• Bright Network
• City Parents
• InterLaw Diversity Forum
• Rare Recruitment